Iowa needs more health care providers, especially in our rural areas. Two bills will in-crease access to health care by expanding eligibility for the Rural Iowa Primary Care Loan Repayment Program.

So, have you heard about the Coronavirus?
I'm being silly. Of course you have. Everybody has. It's all anybody is talking about.
The viral spread of COVID-19, aka Coronavirus, started late last year in China. Shockingly, the Chinese government's policy of pretending that the virus wasn't spreading did little to slow its spread, so now this young viral upstart is taking its act global one cough at a time.

In a previous column I mentioned that I had “fled” Cali-fornia. Yes, it's true. Am I a pansy, or do I have too much self respect?
The house I lived in was on a busy one-way street with a German Shepard on the other side that liked to start barking about bedtime; my bedtime anyway.

With the first funnel week complete, the house chamber is continuing to prioritize necessary legislation and focusing on debate. I am so thankful for all of the dedication and team-work from both sides of the aisle. Both parties are striving to meet the needs of Iowans and drafting positive legislation as the outcome. In this week's newsletter I have included a couple positive bills which passed through the Iowa House.

Teachers and schools will have more tools for addressing disruptive student behavior, if a bill that passed the Senate becomes law.
Under SF 2360, there will be new guidelines for handling violent behavior in classrooms, including standards for “class-room clears,” a technique used to calm a disruptive student by removing all other students from the classroom.
The legislation does the following:

A new era of Star Wars is on the way.
Now that the sequel trilogy has mercifully wrapped up, Lucasfilm is moving forward with a new project to direct their attention, and advertising dollars, towards. "Star Wars: The High Republic" isn't any one thing, but a series of interconnected stories set roughly 200 years before "The Phantom Menace" to be told in a series of novels and comics.
Not movies.

I avoid saying I grew up in California for two reasons. First is that I didn't have to grow up until I met Dawn, who married me when I grew up. Second is that I don't want people to laugh at me.

The Legislature’s first funnel was this week, which means our focus has been narrowed to bills that have a better chance of being debated on the floor and signed into law.

It’s become clear in recent years that Iowa law does an injustice to homeowners living in manufactured housing com-munities – also known as mo-bile home parks.

Can we talk about Star Trek?
I'm dying to talk about Star Trek.
With the premiere of "Star Trek: Picard," CBS has gotten me to re-subscribe to their dedicated streaming service. Their non-Trek selection remains anemic, but if you want to boldly go where no man has gone before CBS All-Access is where you have to do it.

You say you didn't buy a swimming pool? You bought a six-lane swimming pool and an irrigated soccer field in Baghdad at the 104-acre U.S. Em-bassy.
Back on New Year's Eve, Iraqis stormed the embassy and set a fire as a way to drive the invaders from their country. I wonder how we would like a foreign power patrolling our streets uninvited.

This week the Capitol was busier than usual with groups from all over Iowa, educating members on bills they do (or do not) support. Sub-committees are being held to prepare for the first funnel week (more about that topic next week.)
The House held its first floor debate of the session this week, passing three important pieces of legislation to support Iowa’s K-12 schools and victims of significant flooding across the state.

That sound you heard this weekend was Jeff Fowler breathing a sigh of relief.

He had to be tense. As the director of the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie, Fowler received the brunt of the… let's call it "constructive criticism" as the collective movie-going population reacted to the nightmarish CGI model of everybody's favorite hyperactive hedgehog.

Schools have been in a tough position for years, grappling with inadequate funding to meet student needs. There still is a chance we can do better for them this year though.
On Monday, I voted to increase school funding by a modest 3 percent for 2020-21. Unfortunately, the proposal was defeated in favor of a spending level that will shortchange our schools by about a third.

With the Iowa Caucuses complete, our coffee shops are a little quieter and our conversations are back to basketball and wrestling. I am so thankful for all of the volunteers who helped the candidates, and for the candidates who spent so much time getting to know Iowa. Both parties had a great turn out and many first time attendees.